Review by Ben for Isengard - Høstmørke (1995)

Astonishingly awful folk metal with blisteringly awesome black metal tacked on the end.

I found a fair amount of entertainment on the Isengard compilation Vinterskugge. Working through the musical journey of Fenriz while he experiments with both folk music and black metal made for a challenging and inconsistent, yet captivating listen. Of course, I've always been more swayed towards his Darkthrone styled output than his folk noodling, but occasionally the folk inspired work surprisingly connected with me also. I figured the full length Hostmorke would be a far more focused and consistent effort, that might successfully combine the two genres in a neat way. I couldn't be more wrong.

The first 5 tracks are purely folk metal (apart from the occasional flourish in Neslepaks) and it must be said, some of it is just so astonishingly embarrassing. I Kamp med Kvitekrist and I ei Gran Borti Nordre Asen are appalling, no matter how much I try to "get in the mood". It obviously has an audience as the rating for this album is actually pretty good, but I find it excruciating to put myself through. The riffs are simplistic and bouncy and Fenriz's vocals are overly theatrical and well...just bad! Opener Neslepaks is by far the most interesting of the folk tracks and Over de Syngende Ode Moer has its moments, but the rest are awful.

Then the album takes a turn for the last two tracks with Thornspawn Chalice and Total Death being venomous and pure black metal tracks, very much in the vein of Darkthrone. Both are blistering and filled with masses of conviction and darkness, and both kick serious ass! Thornspawn Chalice displays Fenriz in such a manic and passion filled state, it’s quite frankly one the best things he's ever created. The riffs are cold and evil, the drumming intense and his vocals possessed. I love this stuff!!!

Which all leaves me utterly torn by Hostmorke. I assume there would be stacks of metal fans out there that enjoy both folk and black in equal doses, and for them this album might be gold. Then again, maybe the folk metal really is just bad, and I need to give the genre more of a fair go. For me, I'm just not willing to put myself through the first half of the album and so the stuff I do enjoy is completely wasted here. In short, this is not the album I wanted it to be.